Timeline History

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the upheaval that ended British control of middle North America, resulting in the formation of the United States of America in 1776. An account of the military actions of the American Revolutionary War appears in a separate article.
The Revolution was also a series of broad intellectual and social shifts that occurred in American society as new republican ideals took hold in the population. In some states (especially Pennsylvania), sharp political debates broke out over the role that democracy should play in government. The American shift to republicanism and gradually expanding democracy was an upheaval of the traditional social hierarchy; the new republican ethic (augmented by classical liberalism) formed the core of American political values.
Most historians agree that the revolutionary era began in 1763, when Britain defeated France in the French and Indian War and the military threat to the colonies from France ended. The end of the Revolution is usually marked by the Treaty of Paris, in 1783 with the recognition of the United States as an independent nation. However, references to the "revolutionary era" sometimes stretch to 1789, when the new national government under George Washington began operating.
Interpretations about the effect of the revolution vary. At one end of the spectrum is the older view that the American Revolution was not "revolutionary" at all, that it did not radically transform colonial society, but simply replaced a distant government with a local one. The more recent view pioneered by historians such as Bernard Bailyn, Gordon Wood and Edmund Morgan is that the American Revolution was a unique and radical event, based on an increasing belief in republicanism that produced deep changes that had a profound impact on world affairs.

French Revolution

The French Revolution (1789–1799) was a pivotal period in the history of French, European and Western civilization. During this time, republicanism replaced the absolute monarchy in France, and the country's Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo a radical restructuring. While France would oscillate among republic, empire, and monarchy for 75 years after the First Republic fell to a coup d'état, the Revolution is widely seen as a major turning point in the history of Western democracy—from the age of absolutism and aristocracy, to the age of the citizenry as the dominant political force.
The slogan of the French Revolution was "Liberté, égalité, fraternité, ou la mort!" ("Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death!"). This slogan outlived the revolution, later becoming the rallying cry of activists, both militant and non-violent, who promote democracy or overthrow of oppressive governments.